


Blood of Victoria

by IAmCactusKay



Category: Multi-Fandom
Genre: F/M, I Tried, M/M, Vampires, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-12-31
Packaged: 2019-08-01 16:48:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16288220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IAmCactusKay/pseuds/IAmCactusKay
Summary: For Victoria Antoinette, life was about to do a complete 180⁰. After her car breaks down in an unknown area of town, a mysterious figure whisks her away from everything she’s known and thrusts her into a life of danger, romance, and mystery. What Victoria thought she knew about her family is put into question as she learns that she is the last descendent of very powerful creatures





	1. The Meeting

”Note to self.” Victoria groaned as she got out of her. The damn thing just gave up on her. “Save up to buy a better car.” She ran a hand through shoulder length inky curls as she looked around for an idea as to where she might be. “No street lamps?” She pulled out her phone to use the flashlight on it but—“And a dead phone. Great. I’m lost and have no way to call for help. Perfect. Fantastic.” She huffed, the sarcasm heavy in her voice. She walked through the street of what seemed to be an abandoned area of town. Maybe that’s why it didn’t look familiar. She never exactly made a habit of visiting abandoned places. After some time of walking, Victoria finally saw two figures huddled together—probably some couple who thought it’d be romantic in a creepy way to have some fun in an abandoned part of town. Whatever. There were people! “Oh, thank God! Hey!” She jogged up to them, trying to get their attention. “Hey, can you guys tell me where I am?” However, her joy was short lived as one of the figures, a woman, fell to the ground. She was covered in blood.

“H-help…help me…” The woman croaked out, reaching up toward Victoria.

“Holy—“ Victoria started to back up, ready to run. To where, she had no idea but anywhere was better than a potential murder scene. She was quickly stopped by what felt like a brick wall. But brick walls that she knows of don’t have cold hands. Those hands gripped onto her shoulders so hard that she couldn’t even think about running away.

“Well, well, thanks for stopping by, little Alleycat. I was beginning to get hungry. So glad I don’t have to go hunting.” A thick, raspy voice spoke in her ear. “Scared? Your heartbeat sure has sped up. The blood is pumping and you’re making my mouth water.”

“Get away from me, you creep!” She stomped on his foot hard in attempt to get her captor away from her. It didn’t seem to work. In fact, it only seemed to make this man angrier.

“You little—“ He groaned, tightening his grip on her arms hard enough that he’d probably left bruises. “That’s not a very nice way to treat your host. I was being polite. I hadn’t even hurt you and yet here you are, stomping on my foot.”

“Cause you’re talking about my blood like some creep!”

“Hush.” The man spoke. “Jason, you don’t mind if I take this one, do you? I let you have your fun tonight and I’m hungry.” There was a hint of annoyance in the man’s voice.

“Yeah, yeah, Sebastian.” The second figure Victoria had seen spoke, whose name she now knows is Jason. He stepped from the shadows and she saw a tall, slender man with brilliant red hair. His eyes were almost captivating. His eyes were a shiny emerald. “Let me get this one taken care of, first.” Jason knelt down to the bleeding woman, taking her chin between his forefinger and thumb and making her look him in the eyes. “You will go home. You will stop for no one. You will burn these clothes. You will shower to get rid of the blood. You will then go to sleep. You will forget that we met. You will forget this night ever happened.” He let go of her and the woman stood up, beginning to walk away.

“Hey! Call for help!” Victoria called after her but it seemed like the woman just didn’t hear her. “What the Hell did you do to her?!”

“Compulsion, Alleycat.” The man she figured was Sebastian spoke behind her. He’d yet to let her go. “It’s a wonderful thing, you know. Just one look and we can have humans do whatever we want. Granted, we don’t take advantage of that. We’re not cruel. Not all of us, at least.”

“You keep talking about yourselves as if you’re part of some weird cult. You guys aren’t gonna sacrifice me to some weird God that you have?” Irrational, yes, but Victoria had no idea what she had gotten herself into. Anything could happen at this point.

“Cult? Why, little Alleycat, that’s very hurtful. I also was hoping that you’d be a lot smarter. I was hoping you’d get it by now.” Sebastian said, his lips running down her neck. It caused shivers to run down her spine and goosebumps to pop up all over her skin. “Vampires, Alleycat.”

“What--?!” She cried out before being abruptly cut off by a sharp pain in her neck. A little pained cry left her lips, her knees buckling slightly, but Sebastian held her up with a strong arm. Her heart sped up, her eyes wide as she finally adjusted to the dark. Was this really happening? Was she really in the presence of vampires? Her mind was running a mile a minute as blood ran down her neck from Sebastian’s lips. Would he kill her? Drain her like they do in the movies? It wasn’t until she thought she was about to black out that the other pulled away from her with a groan.

“My apologies, Alleycat. I’ve never tasted anything so divine in my life before. I couldn’t help myself.” He chuckled softly as Victoria swayed on her feet upon being let go finally. She was in no state to run away. “Now, let me just take care of you and we can all be on our way like none of this happened.” Finally, Sebastian came into her view. Tall. Muscular. Brunette. Eyes the color of sapphires—of the ocean. And Victoria was finding herself drowning in them. “Good, little Alleycat. Good. Now, I want you to go home. Clean yourself up. Burn these clothes. Sleep. Forget my face. Forget Jason’s. Forget this night.”

Victoria stared into Sebastian’s eyes, never once breaking contact with them. “What?” She managed to get out in her almost drunken-like state. “Why would I do that? I’m…I’m going straight to the police.” She frowned, almost falling but was quickly caught by strong arms.

“Uh…Sebastian, I’m no expert but I’m pretty sure that’s not supposed to happen. She should be on her way now.” Jason sounded worried now, no longer cocky as he was earlier. Something was wrong and Victoria could tell.

“Yeah, no shit, Jason.” Sebastian growled but it quickly softened as he looked down at Victoria with confused and concerned eyes. “Something isn’t right. I can’t compel her. Maybe it’s because of too much blood loss?”

“I don’t know, man, but we can’t just leave her here. She could actually get hurt. And she knows about us. She knows that we exist. We gotta bring her back to the house.” Jason said, Victoria’s conscious fading. She wasn’t going to be awake much longer at this rate.

“I was worried you’d suggest that.” Sebastian sighed, frowning as he watched the poor women fall limp in his arms.

Not dead. Not yet.


	2. The Family

When Victoria awoke, she could only assume she was in a car. The slight bumps and the turns were a dead giveaway. She could hear Sebastian and Jason arguing but she couldn’t exactly make out what they were saying. Not at first. Soon enough, though, it was very obvious that they were talking about her.

“Sebastian, you gotta think deeper about this, man. Something is off. You’ve nearly drained hundreds of people and you could still compel them. There’s no way that this is from blood loss. Something weirder is at hand and you know it. You just don’t want your dad to find out.”

“Yeah, no shit, Jason!” Sebastian growled again. He seemed angry now. Not at anyone in particular but perhaps just with the situation. “If my dad finds out about this, he’ll kill me, I’m sure of it. You know I get in trouble enough on my own. God forbid I bring a human who can’t be compelled into the house! What the fuck am I going to do, Jason?”

“You could turn her?”

That made Victoria’s heart speed up, tensing up even. “She’s awake.” Sebastian grumbled. “And you scared her. You know our laws, Jason. Humans have to be turned in front of the council by the King only. It’s illegal otherwise. Besides, turning her against her will is a dick move.”

Victoria sat up when she was found out. She rubbed her head gently and looked out the window to see if anything looked familiar. “Does anyone want to explain to me what’s going on and where we’re going? Since this does kinda have everything to do with me.”

Sebastian glanced back at Victoria before clearing his throat and putting his eyes back on the road. “Right. Well, as I said, we’re vampires. I wasn’t joking about that and I think you kinda get that now.” Victoria simply nodded so he continued. “Well, we try to live in harmony with the humans and keep them in the dark about our existence but we do need their blood to survive. That we can’t get away from. So we feed but not often. Only when it becomes necessary. After we feed we compel them to forget. So our secret is safe. There was a time when humans were being killed willy-nilly by vampires so that’s how these stories came up. So we made a law that we do not kill humans. And in regards to turning humans.” He shot a glare at Jason. “We don’t do it very often. Mostly because humans don’t want to turn but if they do, it has to be done in front of the council for documentation purposes and the King has to be the one to do it. This limits how many new vampires are created. Call it a type of population control.”

“King? You guys have a monarchy? That’s not what I expected at all. I kinda figured you guys just…did your own thing?” She scratched her head gently, looking between the two in the front seats.

“What? And be lawless?” Sebastian chuckles and shook his head. “No humans would be left if we were like that. Besides, the King is just…mainly a figurehead. The council is the ones who make the rules but the King can tell them no if he thinks it’s dumb. The council was created after the massacre of our original noble family. We couldn’t find any surviving relatives so…the council was created.”

“Right…” Victoria cleared her throat. As if that was common news. “Anyway, you’ve yet to answer my other question. Where are we going?”

“My home. The home of the King.” Sebastian said in a soft voice.

“You’re the King--?!”

“No, Alleycat.” He chuckled, the car finally coming to a stop. “My father is.”

Victoria looked out the window of the car to see a large, ornate mansion before her. Like something straight out of a movie. She got out of the car and looked all around. The mansion was surrounded by forest. Tall, gorgeous trees were all around. She could see a little pathway nearby and she was curious as to where that lead to. Now was not the time for that and she knew it.

“Come on, little Alleycat.” Sebastian said in a soft voice, taking her wrist and leading her up toward the steps of the home. “Maybe we can get you in before—“

“Sebastian, what the fuck did you do?” Came a booming voice.

“Nevermind.” He groaned and turned to face the man at the top of the steps. There stood a man who resembled Sebastian but was blonde instead. “Christopher, look, I can explain. I swear there’s a good reason this time.”

“Is there ever a good reason for bringing a human onto our property? You can’t bring your food home!” The man Victoria guessed was Christopher spoke.

“Yeah, asshole, if you give me a moment to speak. I can’t compel her, okay? I don’t know why I can’t but I can’t. We couldn’t leave her out there or she would’ve gotten hurt or worse. And if she managed to find her way out, she would know of our existence. So, yes. I have a good reason to bring her home.” Sebastian snapped at the other. Were they brothers? They certainly acted like it.

“I’m sorry, what now?” The other staggered a bit at hearing the news. “She can’t be compelled? That’s impossible. Even vampires can be compelled by the right person. Bring her in. Quickly.” He ushered them all in, his eyes darting around as if he was waiting for something to happen. When it didn’t, he rushed back inside to the others.

Sebastian led Victoria in through the foyer and into the front room. She sat on the plush couch as the three men stood before her. She was an enigma to them. A puzzle that couldn’t be solved. “Sebastian…you know dad is going to have to get involved. He is the strongest compeller. If he can’t compel her? All Hell is going to break loose. Dad will calm down eventually but…if the council gets word of her?”

“I see Sebastian is taking his food to-go again?” Victoria let out a shriek when a voice came from seemingly nowhere. It was feminine as was the chuckle that followed. The owner of the voice walked around to join the boys, strawberry blonde hair with pale green eyes belonging to a woman of short stature, yet still taller than Victoria. “A screamer?”

“Nadine, now is not the time for jokes.” Christopher frowned, elbowing her gently. “She can’t be compelled. He didn’t have a choice but to bring her here. This is serious. Dad is going to have to get involved. And you know how he can be. He’s going to pop a gasket when he finds out—“

“When he finds out what?” A loud, booming and regal voice filled the room. It caused everyone to turn and look at a blonde male who looked wizened yet young due to his immortality. “Because I’m just dying to find out why there is a human on my couch.” He crossed his arms, next to him stood a rather petite woman with brunette hair, eyes the same color blue of Sebastian’s. Those two must be the parents—the King and Queen.

“Dad--!” Sebastian started, stuttering over his words for a moment before he didn’t have a choice but to say something. “I…me and Jason were out feeding like usual. She came to us, I swear. I didn’t think anything of it and I was trying to compel her but she…she can’t be compelled. I thought it was because I almost drained her but I’ve done that plenty of times without having any issues. We couldn’t leave her because that would be cruel as she could get hurt or worse and if she can’t be compelled then she would know of our existence so…I brought her here where she would at least be safe.”

The man was frowning at his son but not in a disappointed way. It was like his face just rested in such a natural way. He came over and looked at Victoria who was avoiding eye contact with everyone. “I would have your side of the story, dear one.” He said in a gentle tone. One that made her instantly feel safe.

“I…I was coming home from a party at a friend’s house and I guess I took a wrong turn. I ended up in this abandoned part of town. My car died on me and so did my phone. I started walking to see if I could find someone and I saw two people in the distance. I thought they could help but it was actually—Jason was it? And some woman he was feeding from. I was going to run away but I was stopped by Sebastian. He, uh, fed from me, that what you call it? He…I watched Jason compel the woman but when Sebastian tried it on me, I didn’t do anything. I…didn’t feel compelled to do anything and I passed out from blood loss.”

“Hm…” The father thought, reaching forward to tip Victoria’s chin up so that they meet eyes, his eyes a brilliant blue/gold. “You will go up the stairs in the foyer and go into the last door at the end.”

Victoria blinked a few times, brows furrowing in confusion before she spoke. “Why would I do that? Is there something in there that you need?”  
A collective, defeated sigh echoed throughout the room. The father shook his head and stood up. “Nothing, dear one. It seems my son’s words ring true. Even I can’t compel you. That poses a problem. And until that problem is solved, you cannot leave here.”

“What?” Victoria stood up, staggering a bit and being held upright by the father. “But I have a job! I have bills to pay! I can’t just not show up! I’ll get fired! Lose my apartment! What about my family and friends? They’ll report me missing!”

“Calm down.” The King spoke in that gentle tone once more. Victoria slowly sat back down. “You may not be able to be compelled but I’m confident those you mentioned can be. We will take care of those things. You will not have to worry about any of that, I guarantee. Do you believe my word?”

Victoria thought for a moment before nodding. “I…I guess so. I just don’t want people to worry about me and I don’t want to lose my job and home. But if you say you can do that then…okay.”

“Good. You are our guest here and yet we do not know you’re name.” He said with a small smile, helping her to her feet. “I think it would only be right for us to call you by your name while you live here with us.”

“Oh! I didn’t even realize I hadn’t told anyone. Victoria.” She said with a small smile, looking around at those in the room. As terrifying as this situation should be, she found it almost fascinating. An adventure. Her life was never this lively.

“Victoria.” He repeated before turning toward the others. “You have my word that you will not be fed from again while here. You will be treated like an honored guest. As you are.” He turned to look back at Victoria. “I am Daniel, this is my wife Rebecca.” The brunette woman waved to Victoria. “Nadine.” He turned toward the other woman. “Could you please show Victoria her room?”

“Yeah!” She happily bobbed over to Victoria and locked arms with her, leading her out into the foyer and up the grand staircase to the third floor. There, she led her to the door at the end of the hall. “Here, the rest of us are on this floor as well. You’ll be totally safe up here. Daniel and Rebecca sleep on the second floor and nothing will get past them on the stairs. You’re totally safe.” She opened the door and let Victoria walk in. And she was in awe. The room had to be bigger than her entire apartment with ornate, gold details all over with a bed in the center made of beautifully polished wood. There was a chest of drawers and a desk made of the same wood in the room. She felt like a princess. “It’s so great to have another woman here. God, a house full of boys is so annoying.”

Victoria looked over at Nadine as she was pulled from her thoughts of the room. “Huh? Oh, yeah. I guess I could see how that could be a bit annoying.” She sat on the bed and looked around the room once more before a thought ran through her mind. “What’s going to happen to me?”

“We don’t know. That’s the scary part. I’m not sure we’ve ever encountered a human who couldn’t be compelled. They’re going to do some research for the time being to see if it’s happened before and if the records don’t show anything then they’ll have to try to find an alternate reason until we can figure something out.” She leaned against the top of the desk as she looked at Victoria. “You’re something special, Victoria. We’ve never encountered something like you before.”

“Special? Sounds more like I’m a lot of trouble.” She hugged herself loosely. She was a human in a house full of vampires. What could go wrong?

“Easy things were never worthwhile, Victoria. It’s always the tough things that were the most worth it. So if you’re a lot of trouble then we can expect something great from you.” Nadine offered with a smile. At least it made Victoria smile in return. “Well, you’ve had a rough day. Why don’t you get some sleep? There are some pajamas in the chest that should fit. If they don’t, I’ll be happy to tailor them for you. I was a seamstress before I was turned so that’s kind of my thing.”

Nadine left with a smile before Victoria could say anything else. Finally getting time to relax, she realized just how exhausted she really was. She pulled out some simple pajamas, the fabric way more comfortable than what should’ve been legal and as she crawled into bed, a few things ran through her mind: she was living with vampires now, she was something special, she may never go back to her old life, and Sebastian. Those blue eyes that allowed her to drown in them.

What has she gotten herself into?


	3. The Next Day (Part One)

Victoria slept surprisingly well considering she was in a house full of vampires and she was the only human for quite some time. She woke up with light streaming in through the curtains and a quiet house. She sat up and stretched some before getting up and heading into the adjoining bathroom so she could take a shower. She still had some blood caked on her neck from when Sebastian fed from her. The shampoo and conditioner smelled like strawberries, the body wash like lavender. All scents that relaxed her and made her feel happy. As she finished her shower, she stepped back into the room to notice a note on the desk.

‘Good morning, Victoria!  
I hope you slept well. I’m not here at the moment as I’m going out with Rebecca but I should be home before too long. If you need me to alter the pajamas just drop them off in my room and I’ll get them back to you before the day is out. Down the hall, last door to the right.  
xoxo Nadine’

“Well, that’s nice of her.” Victoria said to herself before taking a look in the closet and the chest of drawers to see what kind of clothes they might have for her to wear. And she was thanking her lucky stars that they weren’t anything old fashioned. She decided on something that wouldn’t be too much: shorts and a nice, pink top. Flats to match the shirt she found as well. She brushed her hair out and grabbed her pajamas to take them to Nadine’s room. She left her room and headed down the hall, looking all around to take in all the little details she could before she reached the room. She opened the door and—

“Oh my God!” She cried out. There before her stood not Nadine but Sebastian, fresh from his own shower with a towel hanging loose and low on his hips. She wanted to look away because it was rude to look at someone when they’re practically naked but damn…the water droplets that ran down his chest and disappeared under the towel really caught her attention.

“Didn’t anyone ever tell you to knock before barging into someone’s room, Alleycat?” He said with a little smirk. Damn that man. “Do you at least like what you see?” He asked in attempt to fluster the poor girl. He didn’t need to try that hard, honestly.

“What?” She stumbled over herself a few times before coming back to reality. She looked up from his towel and to him before turning bright red and turning her back to him. “I-I was merely looking for Nadine’s room! She told me her room was at the end of the hall and to the right!”

“Wrong, little Alleycat.” He chuckled, crossing her arms as he watched her turn her back to him. “Hers is at the end to the left. Just across the hall.”

“Th-thank you!” She stuttered out before scurrying from the door and across the hall, pretending she didn’t hear Sebastian’s quiet little chuckles as he closed his door. Victoria groaned and threw the pajamas onto Nadine’s desk in a fit of anger and frustration. She was going to give Nadine a piece of her mind for tricking her like that!

In the middle of her raging thoughts, she heard someone clear their throat. She turned around to see Sebastian, clothed, and with a tiny smirk on his lips. He held his hand up before she could speak. “Easy, Alleycat, I’m not mad at you for that little stunt back there, but really do knock next time and don’t blame your lack of directional sense on Nadine.”

She scoffed and clenched her fists. “Excuse me but she’s the one who left me a note telling me where to go! I didn’t just blindly pick a room! She told me that your room was hers and that she wasn’t home so that’s why I didn’t knock!” She growled and took Sebastian’s wrist, pulling him all the way back to her room and she could just feel him smirking even though she couldn’t see it. She was going to show him the note and demand he apologize for being a dick. She yanked him into the room and snatched the note off the desk, shoving it into his hands. “Read that and then come apologize.” Well, she was going to wait there for his apology but she really didn’t want to be around him. First he feeds from her, then he kidnaps her, she thought that maybe he could be nice, but then he pulls a dick move.

She stormed out of the room and found her way out of the maze of a house before Sebastian could say anything. She knew she shouldn’t be out here by herself but who all even knew she was here? The people who were supposed to be, that’s who. She didn’t see the trouble in getting fresh air. She walked to the pathway she saw when she first got here, the entrance marked by a cute little archway made of roses. Was this the garden? She stepped in to find that, yes, it was the garden. Lines of hedges adorned with different colored roses went farther than she could see. Not just roses, she found, but lavenders, daisies, sunflowers, and others she couldn’t name just from sight. The smell of the garden was intoxicating and Victoria found that the scent of the flowers calmed her. She kept walking, even picking a sunflower for herself, until she came to a lake. The water was the clearest she’d ever seen. She could see right to the bottom where it seems to have remained untouched; just rocks and whatever else Mother Nature blew into the water. No pollution. It simply took her breath away. She found a little white bench near the water’s edge and took a seat there. She was already beginning to calm down as she watched the wind cause the water to ripple.

“I, uh…hope I’m allowed?”

Victoria turned around to see Sebastian. She wanted to glare and frown and tell him off until she got a good look at him. He was carrying a silver tray with a dome to match on top along with an empty glass and silver pitcher. The look on his face made the guilt of yelling at him sink in. “Sebastian? What’s all this?”

Sebastian looked at Victoria like a kicked puppy, eyes full of regret. “I…you said to come find you and apologize, so I did. I also, uh, thought you might be hungry so I made you something. I promise it’s actual food.” He added that last sentence in there quickly. “I figured you hadn’t wandered far and this is always where I go when I’m upset. So, I came here to look for you. Um.” He gestured vaguely with his elbow. “Can I join you?”

Victoria nodded and moved over on the bench some to give him room. “Yeah…this is your house anyway.” She didn’t want to seem like she was the apologetic one when he was the one who had been an asshole from the start.

“Yeah but it’s polite to ask. Especially when you’ve been kind of a dick to the person you’re trying to apologize to.” He spoke in a soft voice as he sat next to Victoria and handed her the tray to place over her lap. “I, uh, didn’t know what you wanted to eat so I just made you French toast. I hope that’s okay.”

“Funny.” She said with a small smile as Sebastian took the silver dome off the plate. Sure enough, there laid four slices of French toast with powdered sugar and syrup, small plate of bacon to the side. “French toast is my favorite.”

“I didn’t know if you were a vegetarian or something so I put the bacon on the side in case that wasn’t your thing.” He said quickly, suddenly feeling the urge to explain himself in case Victoria got mad again. “I want to apologize, Victoria. For everything. I mean, it’s kind of a dick thing to feed from you but it’s how we survive. We don’t try to hurt those we feed from. I could’ve been a bit nicer after, though. I’m used to joking around with Jason and Christopher. They’re used to my sense of humor and I forget that not everyone is appreciative of it. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did and I’m sorry.”

Victoria listened as she ate the bacon first, taking in everything he had to say. He sounded genuine but she still had her suspicions. Not wanting to just accept it and things just be honky dory because she was still upset at the fact that he mocked her. “I mean, I understand all that just—the mocking is something I could’ve done without. It was rude. You didn’t even attempt to believe me when I said Nadine was the one who sent me.” She frowned over at him. He can’t just charm his way out of her anger.

“I know, Victoria. Please.” It almost sounded like he was begging at this point. It was pitiful. “I know I fucked up. Like, really fucked up. I shouldn’t have mocked you. It was stupid. As I said, I’m used to teasing Jason or Christopher and sometimes Nadine.” He looked down and sighed softly, running a hand through his hair. “Look, I was a real asshole. You don’t have to forgive me but you deserved my apology.”

She thought about what he had to say while she finished up her breakfast. Leave him in suspense for a bit. It was the least he deserved for being a dick. She finished up her food and poured herself a drink that turned out to be orange juice. She took a sip and hummed out softly before giving him any sort of response. “I accept your apology. I’m not sure I’m ready to forgive just yet but getting any apology is worth at least that.” She smiled a bit to let him know that she didn’t completely hate him. At least they had gotten past that. “Changing the subject, this place is absolutely huge.”

“Hey, that’s better than you hating me the whole time you’re here. I’ll take what I can get.” He chuckled, relaxing a bit and slouching in the bench. “Oh, yeah. It’s damn big. Three floors in the house. A garden. A lake. A ballroom that barely gets used. The forest around us. Even I’m not sure where our boundary ends and the rest of the world begins.”

“Why does the ballroom not get used?” She asked as she sipped on her orange juice, looking at the edge of the lake. “I’d assumed that since you guys were some royal family that it’d get used all the time for events and things of the like.”

He snorted and took the sunflower that Victoria had picked, moving to tuck it into her curls so it wouldn’t fall out. “We don’t hold a lot of events like that. Mainly just for the holidays or one of our birthdays. Sometimes I’ll catch mom and dad down there on their own just dancing.”

Victoria stopped mid-sip as he placed the sunflower in her hair. It made her cheeks feel a bit warm. She got flustered very easily. “They do? That’s honestly really cute.” She finished off her orange juice, looking around as a breeze began to blow. “Sebastian, do you have any idea what’s wrong with me? Like any inkling? A theory of any kind?” She was grasping at straws and she knew it.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.” He teased, nudging her gently with his elbow before getting up, taking the tray and beckoning her to follow him as he began to walk around the lake back towards the garden but then he let out a small sigh at her question. “Honestly? I don’t know, Alleycat. I’m not sure anyone has ever com across a human who couldn’t be compelled. We don’t know how to deal with that. That’s why we all kind of acted the way we did last night.” He cleared his throat. “It doesn’t excuse it but we didn’t know how to approach this.”

“Yeah, I get that.” She mumbled underneath her breath. “I get it. I just wish I knew when I could go back home—if I can every go back to a normal life. I miss it.” Which was honest of her. Being here has been almost like the royal treatment so far but it’s only been one day. She still missed home. Her boring little life. “Do you think I’ll ever get to go back home?”

Sebastian let out a heavy sigh as he listened to her. Had he already grown attached to this little spitfire of a human? Surely not. “I’m not sure. It would be nice, I know. I’m not sure I’d be too happy about being held away from my home for an unknown and uncertain amount of time.” He looked over at her to see how dejected she looked and he frowned, setting the tray down on the edge of a fountain, stopping her by taking her shoulders. “Even though this might not be ideal, Victoria, I do hope you enjoy your time here. If you need anything or want anything, let any of us know and we’ll be happy to help. We’re not monsters who want you miserable. We know this is probably awful.” He sighed and pushed some hair out of her face as the wind picked up again. “I’ll protect you, Victoria. I promise. Whatever happens. Even if you’re able to go back home and you choose to…I’ll always be here for you whenever you need me.”

Victoria opened her mouth to speak when a rather shrill, penetrating voice that set her on edge rang out. “Well, well, well, it seems Sebastian has fallen in love with our resident snack.”


End file.
